Windsor McCay: Superb Draughtsman, Founder of Animation, Comic Strip Legend.

[quickman]

Windsor McCay was around at the turn of last century, pioneering animation, drawing several comic strips and editorial cartoons daily, and generally being a badass.



He is best known for his comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland.



But he also pioneered animated drawings with his animation "Gertie the Dinosaur".


more examples of his work




to learn more
www.bpib.com/illustrat/mccay.htm

also, Fantagraphics books has a book in print on him now that is fantastic. Type in McCay in the Search bar, its called "Daydreams and Nightmares". Worth every penny. http://www.fantagraphics.com/

[Elwell]

Hell Yeah!!!!

[jetpack42]

Windsor McCay is hardcore! Definitely top tier!

[Art_Addict]

Thanks Jetpack for the link in the lounge section
McCay truly is an amazing artist. Great illustrator, but what he did for animation is unbelievable. He was sooooooo ahead of his time it's scary.

[nicolas]

I had the chance to see some original little nemo pages at an exhibition some years ago...man, that was some luscious stuff!! pure awesomeness, what a draftsman! there is a documentary about him too ( I had that on video but it got lost during a move), if you can find it its worth the search.

[loomer]

I'm gonna say it...
Winsor McCay - one of the greatest cartoonist ever.
I thought the Daydreams & Nightmares book isn't coming out until Aug.31? I've had that on my Amazon wishlist for 4 months!

[Ssenkrah Semaj]

Jetpack was right this is a damn good thread.

Could Windsor Mckay draw or what holy shit.

[madplanet]

Great post, quickman and thanks to jetpack for bringing it to our attention. McCay is perhaps one of the greatest cartoonist/illustrators of all time. There is so much influence among the illustrators of today and they don't even know it. His line work is incredible.

If I remember correctly, Gertie the Dinosaur was the first actual animated movie done in the traditional manner.

How long do you think it took him to do that last one (down right laziness)? Great stuff.

[jetpack42]

I read in one of his books that he drew the equivalent of a whole Sunday Page of comics EVERY DAY, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The man was a machine!

so I'd say that last one took him somewhere around half a day if I had to guess...

[Elwell]

Originally Posted by jetpack42

I read in one of his books that he drew the equivalent of a whole Sunday Page of comics EVERY DAY, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The man was a machine!

AND he drew every frame of Gertie himself, including redrawing the backgrounds (no cells!).

[FlipMcgee]

John Canemaker's thick bio book "Winsor McCay: His Life and Art" is an excellent read. Check your local libraries.

Actually in the book it mentioned that he had an assistant redraw the backgrounds. Cel wasn't discovered yet at the point so everything was done per sheet. "Sinking of the Lusitania" is a pretty amazing feat of animation too.

Some sad accounts near the end of his life (if I remember correctly from the book) like he didn't bother patenting some of his innovations and one anecdote of technology theft by another animation pioneer.

He and Hal Foster are giants when it comes to draftmanship. (Both born in Canada by the way.) And you'd think they went to fancy art schools in their time when you look at their works but in fact they honed their skills in humble environments. McCay as an artist for Circus troupes and Foster drawing women's lingerie for catalogues. (Foster, once he got a job as a commercial artist in Chicago at the age of 28, took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute - where Andrew Loomis also studied).